The solo diving movement, a good idea?

[lamarpaulski]

You would have to compare deaths per hour of activity. Diving would win.

Actually diving would 'lose' as the huge number of drivers who put in gazillions of hours driving would make driving far safer per hour vs diving.

Driving in USA just hit record low fatality rates btw. Homicides too.

 

[tracydr]

We need fewer posts on this topic and more on how to be a good dive buddy. DO not excuse your self with a dismissive attitude about a buddy who wouldn't or didn't do this or that. Talk, to them, learn about them and their experience and skill level, and share yours. Familiarize each other with your equipment, discuss the dive plan and objectives, and expectations for buddy proximity and awareness, as well as some basic communications. Work at it. And consider, if you have a sequence of crappy dive buddies, from your perspective, what is each of them thinking about you?
DivemasterDennis

So true. I fully believe that poor buddy diving is a training weakness. This belief was further strengthened when I had the pleasure of diving with two GUE / cave trained divers. Despite poor visibility,it was so easy to stay together in a group of three.
There is something about GUE training that develops buddy behavior that is lacking in PADI training. Even the Fundy level GUE diver has buddy skills that I've never seen in PADI divers, as experienced as PADI instructors. The positioning and awareness that they learn is amazing.

 

[uncfnp]

I see a lot of folks here who have decided that diving solo is better than diving with a buddy, because they've had bad experiences with buddies.

My answer to that is, rather than give up diving with a buddy, why not get better buddies? In the world where I dive, people don't go haring off into the blue (or the dark, or the murk, which are more likely in Puget Sound). They don't blow through their gas in minutes, and they don't run out. They stay where you expect them to be, and communicate effectively. They share a dive plan, and participate willingly in a gear check. They have strong personal diving skills, achieved at the cost of some time and focused work, which allows all these things to happen.

I would never dive solo if I could avoid it. In my world, you not only have someone you can rely on to help you avoid problems (and solve them, if they occur anyway), but you've got a strong, solid buddy with whom to share the things you see underwater. Best of all worlds!

So true. I fully believe that poor buddy diving is a training weakness. This belief was further strengthened when I had the pleasure of diving with two GUE / cave trained divers. Despite poor visibility,it was so easy to stay together in a group of three.
There is something about GUE training that develops buddy behavior that is lacking in PADI training. Even the Fundy level GUE diver has buddy skills that I've never seen in PADI divers, as experienced as PADI instructors. The positioning and awareness that they learn is amazing.

We need fewer posts on this topic and more on how to be a good dive buddy. DO not excuse your self with a dismissive attitude about a buddy who wouldn't or didn't do this or that. Talk, to them, learn about them and their experience and skill level, and share yours. Familiarize each other with your equipment, discuss the dive plan and objectives, and expectations for buddy proximity and awareness, as well as some basic communications. Work at it. And consider, if you have a sequence of crappy dive buddies, from your perspective, what is each of them thinking about you?
DivemasterDennis

Why is it that some individuals insist on believing that any diver that dives solo does so because of a lack in the buddy system? Is it not possible that for some divers it is at times a preference, not a choice of last resort? That for these individuals, even the availability of a perfect buddy, possibly even GUE trained, they may still choose to dive solo? That solo diving may not always be the result of a lack of or a deficient buddy?

Maybe we have topic for another thread...

Might a diver choose to dive solo even if the perfect buddy is available?

 

[Bob DBF]

Might a diver choose to dive solo even if the perfect buddy is available?

Sometimes I do. I'm of the belief that one should solo dive because thats what they want to do, not something they are forced into. One could choose to improve the skills of a buddy, if thats the buddy that needs remediation.


Bob

 

[electrician]

Well, I have carefully considered everything that each of you had said, and . . . I still feel exactly the same way. I think solo diving is incredibly risky and stupid, and unnecessarily so. Hell to the no, not for me. Happy trails (bubbles?), all.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

So true. I fully believe that poor buddy diving is a training weakness. This belief was further strengthened when I had the pleasure of diving with two GUE / cave trained divers. Despite poor visibility,it was so easy to stay together in a group of three.
There is something about GUE training that develops buddy behavior that is lacking in PADI training. Even the Fundy level GUE diver has buddy skills that I've never seen in PADI divers, as experienced as PADI instructors. The positioning and awareness that they learn is amazing.

As you say, it's a training weakness. Most training consists of telling people to dive with a buddy, with little to no effort put into telling them how to do it.

A great deal of the success of GUE training in that area boils down to mindset ... by definition, the GUE diver is part of a team. It's not "my" dive ... it's "our" dive ... and the fundamental approach to diving revolves around how to implement it as such.

Awareness is the cornerstone to good buddy skills, and awareness is a learned skill ... if you don't know you're supposed to learn it, you never will ... no matter how long you dive.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

---------- Post added August 22nd, 2013 at 02:33 PM ----------

Might a diver choose to dive solo even if the perfect buddy is available?

Yes ... I'm fortunate to have no dearth of great dive buddies to choose from, and I truly enjoy diving with them. And yet, I also enjoy diving solo sometimes.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[drrich2]

Well, I have carefully considered everything that each of you had said, and . . . I still feel exactly the same way. I think solo diving is incredibly risky and stupid, and unnecessarily so. Hell to the no, not for me. Happy trails (bubbles?), all.

Incredibly? To the point of being 'stupid?'

I hear a lot of people die in accidents in bathrooms. Do you consider it incredibly risky & stupid to bathe? I suppose you could get some sort of 'Drivers' Education Course' car where a licensed driver riding shotgun could take the wheel if you feint. Do you drive such? Aside from jumping to a poorly founded conclusion, do you have any basis in objective reality for your position besides how you 'feel?'

Think about other decisions about risk you make in your life. Do you actually live a life consistent with the standard your statement appears to suggest, or do you engage in hypocrisy?

No offense, but solo diving is an activity many of us practice responsibly with good risk management techniques known and available, and it seems arbitrary and over-the-top to write that off as 'incredibly risky and stupid.'

Richard.

 

[uncfnp]

Well, I have carefully considered everything that each of you had said, and . . . I still feel exactly the same way. I think solo diving is incredibly risky and stupid, and unnecessarily so. Hell to the no, not for me. Happy trails (bubbles?), all.

More trolling...

 

[TMHeimer]

Why is it that some individuals insist on believing that any diver that dives solo does so because of a lack in the buddy system? Is it not possible that for some divers it is at times a preference, not a choice of last resort? That for these individuals, even the availability of a perfect buddy, possibly even GUE trained, they may still choose to dive solo? That solo diving may not always be the result of a lack of or a deficient buddy?



********************************

Both reasons are valid. My location means that I either dive solo a lot or spend tons of (Canadian) gas money and hours going to places where I can buddy dive. I only solo dive to maybe 35 feet, and if deeper, I will always seek a buddy, HOPEFULLY a responsible one. But as you & I have pointed out, there are other plusses to solo diving.

 

[Progen]

Just wanted to mention, since several have brought up being unconscious, that there are ways to help keep your mouthpiece in your mouth should this happen. Many RB divers, myself included, use this combination mouthpiece & retaining strap. I've tried to simulate being unconscious several times and the mouthpiece stays in place. I'm primarily a solo diver, but wouldn't make any dive without it. Not a guarantee, for sure, but certainly something that changes the odds.

That looks like something Hannibal Lecter would wear and of all the coincidences in the world, Dr. Lecter liked it.

Genuine question. Is it any good if the diver's completely out and the lips don't seal around it?

---------- Post added August 23rd, 2013 at 08:51 AM ----------

Well, I have carefully considered everything that each of you had said, and . . . I still feel exactly the same way. I think solo diving is incredibly risky and stupid, and unnecessarily so. Hell to the no, not for me. Happy trails (bubbles?), all.

Could you list out your concerns and thoughts about solo diving in order and perhaps some of the solo nutters here can convince you that whilst it's not for everyone, it's not incredibly risky and stupid?

Personally, I think EVERY diver, recreational or technical, is a solo unit. If you have a buddy, then it's TWO solo units diving together. If you start having the silly idea that your buddy will and can be there for you everytime when needed, chances are you're going to be choking and kicking at stuff when your buddy's just a few metres away looking in another direction.

For me, I don't mind looking out for others on fun dives because since I own my equipment and am very comfortable with it and being underwater, my attention can be spread out A LITTLE but I'll still say the same to any diver who tells me they don't need to check their equipment and keep their eyes open underwater because I'm using better equipment.

"I will NOT be there for you"